Signboard



J. H. HPFFGARTEN.

SIGNBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I0, I9I9 1,363,736. Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

w cjfjffqjjjgare,

um l l @2% awt f s@ %ff r awww,

I. H. HOPFFGARTEN.

SIGNBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I0, |919. 1,363,736. Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I i D F/g. 2. 5 /9 E I I 7- I f6 I I I I 5 I Z-M E: 4* 71 *3l 12 5/ I III IIIIIHH...

8 .6 /9 H 4" I lmwntoz WIM/woo ar en) avlium,

` UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE SIGNBOABD.

.Application led .Tune 10,

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. HOPFFGAR TEN a citizen of the United States, residing at Boise, in the county of Ada andthe State of Idaho, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signboards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a sign board hav-` ing removable panels, said panels being mounted in a suitable ornamental frame, and adapted to interlock, the panels being readily removable for replacement by other panels having a different sign thereon. By means of a board so constructed the anels composing the sign ma be painted 1n the studio, then taken to t e frame, which is permanently located, and fitted into position, the various panels or sections forming the complete sign. When the sign is to be changed new panels can be substituted, and the old ones removed to the studio, and a new sign painted on them.

By so constructing the sections that no nails are required to hold them in place they can be removed for repainting without damage to the panels.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction hereinafter described, pointed out in the claims, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a face view of the sign, partly broken away.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, an intermediate portion being broken out.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of a locking device.

In the drawings 1 designates a frame having any ornamental design and supported and braced by uprights 2 and cross members 3. It is flanked at each end by pillars 4, and is provided with a suitable base 5, the plllars and base being of any artistic deslgn desired. Within the frame are held the panels 6 upon which the sign, usually in this class of sign boards of a pictorial nature, is painted.

The panels are formed of'v sheet metal mounted on rectangular frames 7 having cross members 8, the metal sheet being bent over the edges of the frame. The vertical side members of the frame 7 are formed with a shiplap edge 7a, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3, so that when fitted together in the frame 6 they interlock one section Serving to hold the adJacent ones in place.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Dee. es, 1920.

1919. .Serial No. 803,196.

It will be noted that the frame is provided w1th a molding, 9, 10 which overlaps the face of the sections and prevents their outward movement, rear movement being stopped by the cross braces 3. The molding sections 9 are secured by screws and are removable, bemg placed opposite each other at top and bottom of the frame, respectively. The remainder of the molding, 10, is permanently secured 1n place. From Fig. 2 it will be no ted that the interior height of the frame 1 1s greater than the length of the panels so that there is a clearance at the top of the panels between the moldings and the upper back brace 3.

This allows the various sections, other than the last to be inserted or first to be removed, to be lifted over the molding at the bottom and then dropped into, or lifted from, position. The remaining section is fitted into position, or in case of removal first taken out, while the moldings 9 are detached. When all the sections are in place moldings 9 are fitted into place. It will be obvious that in removing the sections, the moldings 9 are removed first, and then the section spanned by said moldings is lifted out of position. This allows the other sections to be slipped along the frame so as to disengage their interlocking edges, after which they can be removed by lifting, into the clearance at the top, to clear the lower molding 10.

As an additional securing means I place screw eyes 11 in the frames 7, and similar screws 12 at suitable intervals in the inter- -mediate cross piece 3, said screws, when the sections are 'in place being at right angles to each other. A threaded shank having a hook end is passed through the eye 12 and engages the eye 11, there being as many of these as there are sections, and a wing nut 14 is placed on the shank 13 and locks the frame 7 to the screw eye 12 and consequently to the cross piece 3. Before the sections are rcmoved the wing nuts 14 are taken off.

With a sign board of this construction it is not necessary to tear the panels off, as where they are nailed, and I have found in actual practice that a board of the average size can be removed from the frame section by section and a new sign fitted into position in about fifteen minutes, and without any inj ur to the sections removed.

at I claim is f 1. A sign board comprisin a frame, a

molding forming a part of t e frame and having oppositely placed removable sections, and interlocking panelsmdapted to be fitted into said frame, and having a clearance back 0f the upper moldin between t2; '-1 panels and 5 the upper member o the frame?,

2. A sign board of the kind desribed comprising a frame, upright and Cross members bracing said frame, removable panels adapted to be held in the frame, eyes carried by the panels, eyes carried by one of the cross members, hooks having threaded Shanks engaging the eyes of ythe panels and passin through the eyes of the. cross member, an wing nuts engaging the said Shanks to the rear of the last mentioned eyes, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimon whereof l affix my signature.

J HN H. HOPFFGARTEN. 

